Brent A. Talbot

Brent Talbot heads Chaffe McCall’s Civil Litigation Section, where he concentrates his practice on defending clients in litigation, trial, and dispute resolution.  He serves on the firm’s Management Committee and its Business Intake and Development Committees, and he is a Practice Area Coordinator.

He has extensive experience representing railroads in personal-injury, grade-crossing, environmental, and property damage claims, whether pursued individually or as class actions.  He is active in the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel (NARTC), and he has spoken and written on a variety of railroad topics to the NARTC, the Southeastern Claims Association, and the American Shortline and Regional Railroad Association.

In individual cases, class actions, and multi district litigation,  Brent also represents vaccine, drug, and medical device manufacturers in product liability claims; and a national testing laboratory in malpractice, personal injury, employment and drug testing cases.

He has represented tobacco companies in smoking and health claims and maritime interests in personal injury and hull damage claims.  He has defended the manufacturers of tires, chairs, automotive paints, fire-resistant clothing, food products, bicycles, dryers, ovens, amusement rides, and petrochemical and agricultural products.  He has also represented major retailers in premises-liability claims and real-estate developers and brokers.

Brent has appeared in cases in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and New York.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for Railroad Law and Commercial/Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2013-2024
• Selected for inclusion in Louisiana Super Lawyers, 2012 -2023
• Selected as a “Local Litigation Star” for General Commercial and Product Liability by Benchmark Litigation,2019- 2022
• Selected as a Legal Elite for Product Liability Law by The Corporate America, 2015
• Named “Lawyer of the Year” Best Lawyers’ 2013 New Orleans Railroad Law
• Named as a Top Lawyer in Railroad, Product Liability and Transportation by New Orleans Magazine, 2023
• Selected in the Leadership in Law class by New Orleans CityBusiness, 2013
• Selected as a Top Rated Lawyer in Transportation Law by The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel, 2013
• AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Trinity Episcopal School, served as a Trustee on the board
• United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans, Inc.,served as an officer
• Director and volunteer of youth baseball and soccer league
• Fellow, Louisiana Bar Foundation

• In re: Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, No. 05-4182 (E.D. La.) – appointed Railroad Liaison Counsel and won summary judgments on motions to dismiss thousands of flooding claims on preemption and no-duty grounds.
• In re: Zyprexa Product Liability Litigation, MDL 1596 (E.D.N.Y.)
• In re: Boston Scientific Corp. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2326 (S.D.W. Va.)
• In re: Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1708 (M.N.D.)
• Dyson v. Advanced Bionics, et al., No. 604564 (19th JDC, Parish of East Baton Rouge) – summary judgment of complete dismissal on federal preemption grounds.
• Eschete v. Roy, et al., 554 F. Supp. 2d 628 (E.D. La. 2008) – summary judgment for Eli Lilly and Company in a pharmaceutical product-liability lawsuit.
• Alday v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 929 So. 2d 1094 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2008) – won a directed verdict in a bench trial under the FELA, successfully defended an appeal, and defeated the plaintiff’s application to the Louisiana Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.
• Navarre, et al. v. CSX Transportation, Inc. and Illinois Central Railroad, No. 2006-20 (Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans) – won exceptions of no cause of action and a complete dismissal of a class action for injuries and damages allegedly caused by a tank-car leak and ensuing evacuation.
• Lane v. R.A. Sims, Jr., Inc., 241 F. 3d 439 (5th Cir, 2001) – filed an amicus brief for the Association of American Railroads concerning the application of the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. 20101-20153, and train-speed regulations promulgated thereunder, in a railroad employee’s action under the FELA, 49 U.S.C. 51-60.
• Miciotto v. Brown, et al. (2008 U.S. App. Lexis 5656 and 2003 WL 22326559) (E.D. La.) – won a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Amtrak and Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad in an engineer’s FELA claim arising out of a crossing accident.